REMAKES - THERE'S NOTHING NEW ABOUT THEM

It's been said that over the last decade Hollywood has gone remake crazy, by reproducing the same old films again and again and again. But no. On the contrary. Hollywood has always been a right sucker for a remake. If you go back to as far as the mid-twenties and early-thirties, you will see time and again tinsel town driving down Homage Avenue more times than they've spat out celebs. Here. Check this out to see what I mean.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

  

Now let's start with this old chestnut, shall we? Charles Dickens' 1843 classic, A Christmas Carol. Or, depending in what era you were born in, it's also been referenced on film with names like Marley's Ghost (1901), The Virtue of Rags (1912), The Right to Be Happy (1916), Scrooge (1922), It's Never Too Late (1953), Scrooged (1988), Ebenezer (1998) etc. etc. etc. Essentially, this timely tale is about a miserable old git who eventually sees the error of his ways after being visited by four spirits one husky Christmas night, with each of them explaining to him that money does not always buy you love.

The Lodger

 

In 1888, Jack the Ripper killed five prostitutes within the London borough of Whitechapel. Twenty-five years later, Ms Marie Belloc Lowndes penned these crimes into a book called, 'The Lodger', and it eventually inspired such directors as Alfred Hitchcock, Maurice Elvey, John Brahm, and Hugo Fregonese, to remake into such films as The Lodger (1927 / 1944), The Phantom Fiend (1932), plus Man in the Attic (1953).

Dracula

 

Come, my children of the night. Come and pay your respects to a 1931 remake which was based on a 1897 novel that took it's inspiration from a real life Wallachian Prince. Although, lets not forget about Nosferatu: The Germanic 1922 filmic source which gave this flick its gothic bite.

The Maltese Falcon

  

It's a little known fact that Dashiell Hammett wrote the first screenplay for The Maltese Falcon in 1931, relaying it's basic premise on a down on his luck gum shoe detective who's after a woman that's not all she seems. Initially it was recorded in the same year it was written, and starred such pioneers as Bebe Daniels, Ricardo Cortez, Robert Elliot, and Thelma Todd. Yet, lets keep in mind that this flick wasn't made famous until 1941, ten years later, when John Huston adapted Dashiell's screenplay into the now Bogart, Bacall, Lorre, and Greenstreet screen classic. 

Scarface

 

From the mean streets of New York City to the Sunny sands of Cuba, and I'd say Scarface is one of those gangster films that depicts the rise and a fall of a very fallen man. In each case, however, the title character (loosely based on Al Capone) was either played by Paul Muni in 1932, or Al Pacino in 1983.

The Fast and The Furious

  

No. I am not talking about the recent film franchise aptly titled, The Fast and The Furious. Because did you know, in 1955, John Ireland starred in a film with this same name, and it was about a lone outlaw going on the run, only to end up in a racing competition held in California. What's more, years later, this film was remade under a new name, The Chase, and starred Charlie Sheen and Kristy Swanson.

A Bedtime Story For The Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

  

Now who's better? David Niven and Marlon Brando, or Michael Caine and Steve Martin? Well, the way I see it, your answer will depend on if you were around in 1964, for A Bedtime Story, or 1998, for Dirty Rotten Scoundrels. Me? I take them both. Hopefully at half the price. As both these films took place in the French Riviera, and while we got to see them in English, translation software companies like Smartling would ensure that nothing got lost in their witty dialogue from one to the other.

The End of The Odd Job

  

Do you know what Burt Reynolds has in common with Graham Chapman from Monty Python? Ronnie Barker is what they have in common. Because in 1971, Ronnie Barker starred in a sitcom on ITV, and it was about a man who pays another man to kill him because his wife as left him. Coincidentally, seven years later, in 1978 for those of you who can count, both Burt and Graham made two different films based on this particular premise. Burt's was called The End, where as Graham's was called The Odd Job.

Now I know I could go on adding to this list, and state such remakes as Meet The Parents (2000 / 1992), Scent of a Woman (1992 / 1974), True Lies (1994 / 1991), The Departed (2002 / 2006), or Godzilla (2014 / 1998 / 1954). But no. You don't want me to do that! Do you? As that wouldn't be very original, Ha!